Selective patterning on a flexible substrate using reduced graphene oxide-graphene and electroless deposited self-aligned silver conduction layers

Flexible conductive materials exhibit high potentials for application as conductor interconnects for many critical devices. In this study, we report on the optimization of silver interconnections on graphene oxide (GO)-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) substrates by electroless plating (ELP) for the preparation of flexible selective patterned conductive materials. The patterned GO-rGO film on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was prepared by partial irradiation using pulsed light with a pattern mask. The incubation time and deposition rate for plating silver on different surfaces such as rGO, GO, graphene (G), and PET films were simulated by fitting the curve of silver film thickness. The highest deposition rate (79.8 nm/min) and the shortest incubation time (28 s) were exhibited by silver deposited on GO due to the presence of nucleation sites such as oxygen-containing functional groups where silver nanoparticles could grow. We analyzed the surfaces of the silver interconnections formed using 4-point probe and Raman spectroscopy. These findings provide prove the feasibility of preparing silver interconnections on GO-rGO surfaces through ELP for the fabrication of rGO based flexible conductors. This method could potentially be suitable for the preparation of flexible conductive materials.